2024-2025

Geographic Regional Studies, Minor

Department of Geography, Planning, and Recreation

College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Geography is a discipline that utilizes the concepts of location, place, and space to understand and analyze interactions between humans and their environments by bridging the social and natural sciences. The Geography Regional Studies Minor meets the interests and needs of students from a variety of majors and disciplines who seek a robust framework to connect contemporary issues occurring among places, communities, peoples, and systems around the world, and to contextualize these through various geographic scales of inquiry. This minor provides students baseline knowledge of United States and the world in terms of geographic location, natural and human resources, environmental and social systems, and economic, political, cultural, and historical contexts. Students also develop the skill of geographic thinking, which helps them to visualize diversity, identify patterns, comprehend complex connections, critically analyze change, and evaluate solutions.
 

  • A minor is earned in conjunction with a bachelor's degree.

    To receive a minor (18 - 24 units) at Northern Arizona University, you must complete a planned group of courses from one or more subject matter areas with a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0. At least 12 units of the minor must be unique to that minor and not applied to any other minor.

In addition to University Requirements:

  • Complete individual plan requirements.

Students may be able to use some courses to meet more than one requirement. Contact your advisor for details.

No more than fifty percent of the units used to satisfy minor requirements may be used to satisfy major requirements.

Minimum Units for Completion 18
Major GPA 2.0

Purpose Statement

Geography is a discipline that utilizes the concepts of location, place, and space to analyze and understand interactions between humans and their environments by bridging the social and natural sciences. The Geography Regional Studies Minor meets the interests and needs of students from a variety of majors and disciplines who seek a robust framework to connect contemporary issues occurring among places, communities, peoples, and systems around the world, and to contextualize these through various geographic scales of inquiry. This minor provides students baseline knowledge of United States and the world in terms of geographic location, natural and human resources, environmental and social systems, and economic, political, cultural, and historical contexts. Students also develop the skill of geographic thinking, which helps them to visualize diversity, identify patterns, comprehend complex connections, critically analyze change, and evaluate solutions. This knowledge base and skill set would allow students to enhance their own understanding, become well informed citizens, and capitalize on the “geographic turn,” through which multiple disciplines have embraced the utility of geographic thinking.

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Be spatially literate and be able to describe key features of regions and the world employing geographical concepts and vocabulary (e.g. climate, landforms, geographic scales, cultures and human processes, site and situation, and sense of place).
  •  Recognize and analyze social and environmental processes and the relationships between them, (e.g. migration and immigration, climate change, and geopolitical conflict).
  • Identify and analyze similarities, diversity, and interconnections between places and peoples (e.g. globalization, development, cultural identity, and community).
  • Define and apply core geographic concepts and methods to examine regional, national and world events and issues (e.g. place making, spatial analysis, demographics, and geographic thinking) and connect these with sustainability and resilience.
  • Self assess their place in the world: In what ways am I part of local communities and global systems? How do I impact these systems?

Minor Requirements

  • Take the following 18 units with a Grade of "C" or better in each course:


    Contact the Geography, Planning, and Recreation Department to be assigned a minor advisor.
Additional Information

  • Be aware that some courses may have prerequisites that you must also successfully complete. For prerequisite information, click on the course or see your advisor.